Shawn Spencer is a fictional character and main protagonist on the American television comedy-drama Psych played by American actor James Roday Rodriguez. Taking advantage of his eidetic memory and keen observational skills, he poses as a psychic and works as a private detective who often consults with the Santa Barbara Police Department. Fictional biography Shawn Spencer works as a freelance consultant to the Santa Barbara Police Department, along with his business partner and lifelong best friend Burton Guster. Shawn is hyper-observant, has an eidetic memory, and always ends up being in the right place at the right time. This makes him an excellent detective; however, his impulsiveness, fear of commitment, and lack of follow-through prevented him from achieving a traditional career with the police. Therefore, he fakes having psychic powers that the police believe aid him in solving crimes; he is in fact simply using his natural detection skills. Shawn was a breech birth, born on March 24 1977, and comes from a family of police officers. His father, Henry, is a decorated sergeant who trained Shawn from childhood to be hyper-observant. His parents separated in 1992, and later divorced; his mother, Madeleine (a psychologist), eventually returned and explained that she left to pursue a job opportunity. At the age of 15, he achieved a perfect score of 100 on the detective's exam. This is drawn loosely from the childhood of series creator Steve Franks, who was also born into a family of police officers and whose father "was training [Franks] in his own way to follow his footsteps." Franks' father would ask him how many people were wearing hats in a restaurant, a tactic Henry employs in the series pilot. Shawn's relationship with his father is complicated; Henry is disappointed that Shawn did not follow in his footsteps as a police officer, and is skeptical of Shawn's detective business. Though often it may seem that Henry is intentionally aggravating or imposing his will on his grown son, however, it is frequently implied that he genuinely loves Shawn and wants him to be happy and successful. For example, Henry tips off a meter maid to ticket Shawn's motorcycle, which is parked too close to a hydrant outside his apartment. Shawn's motorcycle is impounded as a result, which was Henry's ultimate goal, as it is later revealed that Shawn had gotten into a serious accident some time ago. When push comes